Foreign Film Critique

Christian Sage
2:20-3:50 Tuesday and Thursday
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Pans labyrinth
November 24, 2006
Spanish
Guillermo del Toro
Ivana Baquero Sergi Lpez Maribel Verd Doug Jones Ariadna Gil

6) The movie takes place in World War 2 the year is 1944 in Spain. A pregnant mother and her
daughter Ofelia travel to a secluded mill out in the country side. Ofelia is the main character, a
young girl trying to escape reality by entering her own little fantasy world. Her father died and
he mother re-married an evil Captain to help look after her and Ofelia. Captain Vidal has his wife
and step daughter moved to the mill so they can be closer to him. The war is still going on and
rebels in the nearby woods make frequent attacks on the mill. Ofelia is visited by a fairy that
leads her into a nearby labyrinth were she descends into a pit and meets a faun. The faun tells her
that she is a princess from the underworld and that her father is waiting for her. The faun gives
her three tasks to accomplish. Telling her if she can accomplish these tasks she can go and live
with her father once again. Ofelia completes the three tasks and then goes to live with her father.
7) This film expresses many big problems and issues in that area of the world and with the given
time frame of 1944. The director was smart about how he was able to use this history to tell a
better story. At this time in history Spain was in a chaotic tumult with core ideas and beliefs
changing rapidly. Spain did away with from its long history of having a monarchy and was left
with a communist leader. Spain was then influenced by Nazi Germany and Italy. In the movie

Captain Vidal is a very cruel man who rules his people with fear and only accepts complete and
total loyalty. You can see and feel the Nazi like behaviors he exploits. The turning to communism
led to the Spanish civil war which makes perfect sense in the movie why there would be rebels
attacking the Captain and his encampment. This movie is really trying to target an older and
more mature audience. The movie is a bit graphic in parts. As captain Vidal shoots anyone who
goes against him. Another key thing to mention is that this film actually teaches you a lot about
the history in the area at the time and what it would have been like to live there. Many of the
people are portrayed as being completely and totally miserable from there situations. The doctor
at one point in the film knowingly disobeys the captain fully knowing that it would mean ending
his life. Sure enough as he walks away from the captain he shoots and kills the doctor. I think the
doctor gave up hope. He wanted something that he thought would be impossible to obtain except
by one way only and that way being death. It makes me wonder how the actual people in Spain
reacted to the new social ideas. Clearly there were many who joined the rebels side and tried to
fight the changing ideas but there must have been those who were trapped and didnt know
where to go. I like Ophelias story because it could represent those people who were able to find
some form of joy in even the worst of situations. The point of view that the film is trying to
express is what the world looked like in Fascist Spain and how hard and difficult life was. It
could also show how so many people live in a world where they dont question anything and just
live there life. This to me sounds a bit like slavery. Another point of view from the movie could
be the fact that material items do not make you happy and really mean nothing at all. Captain
Vidal could represent this side of things. The man had everything and anything he wanted to an
extent. He had the house, the food and power. Though little at a time everything he likes is taken

from him until at the very end of the movie when the rebels take his most precious item, his new
born son.
8) My response to the film is that I really liked it. I thought the story line was impressive and I
loved all the deeper meanings to the story line. The whole movie is one big parable and you can
pull a number of great lessons from it. I really liked the fact that the director tried to teach a
lesson on the Spanish war that I dont think most people know about. My response to the film is
also that you can and probably will live in a crappy situation at some point in your life or for
your whole life; however you shouldnt have to go through life only going through the motions.
Everyone should be able to question things. I respond this way because I feel that everyone is by
nature free. No one should be able to enslave us or force us into submission, especially by fear.
The film did change my views a bit. Even when life seemed like it couldnt get any worse Ofelia
avoids these pit falls of life. At the end of the movie Ofelia chooses to give up her opportunity
for immortality to avoid hurting her little brother. She was totally self-less even when faced with
near death. She lost a lot. Her father died and her mother remarried a monster that in the end shot
and killed her. Her mother died during child birth, she was beat and yelled at often yet remained
a good person and lived a good life.
9) One of the differences in this film was the outlook. The outlook of the film for the most part is
very dull and grim no one is happy. It is a very sad movie and has no real happy moments until
Ofelia dies, and is reunited with her parents. However they end it in a way that makes it seem
like Ofelias fantasy world was only in her head and she really just died. Everyone seems to have
one big problem that seems to get the best of them; they work on it through the Corse of the
movie and most best the hurdle in the end. One of my favorite cultural differences was
something so apparent I almost missed it. The director spends a lot of time trying to help the

audience see the feelings of the different characters by focusing on their face. Nearly every
screen transition opens with a close up shot of someones face. You can almost feel that they are
thinking which is really nice. Another thing I noticed, and its interesting that there is no humor
anywhere in the film. No jokes are made and there is no happy laughing. . The clothing is
different than what would be worn in America at the time so it has a very European feel to it. The
way the Characters interacted with each other when greeting each other is different. The director
uses a lot of symbols starting from the beginning of the movie and going through out.

10) The director of this film used a lot of tequnies that are a bit different than what Im accustom
to with the movies I tend to watch. The most noticeable difference is the use of lighting and
color. They increase or add to the color to amplify or bring a sense of excitement and adventure
to the story. The colors are very dull and boring when the Captain Vidal is in the picture. He
seems to make everyone else miserable and the colors reflect that. On the other hand the colors
are very vibrant when Ofelia is in her fantasy world; especially if she is trying to compete one of
the three. One of the other times I noticed a color change was when the other characters are
together in a kind of happy moment and the captain is gone. Perhaps to help show that everyone
is unhappy around the captain. Or to make the magical part of the story stick out more. I also
noticed that the dialoged is very serious all throughout the film. The Music is always a bit creepy,
Never scary or sad but never happy. There are no relationships throughout the movie which I
thought interesting. Everyone is kind of isolated from one another and connected by and through
the captain, who kills most of the characters. One of the Biases the director plays on is the
magical faun. He leads Ofelia out into a maze and down into a pit were he sneaks out of the

shadows. My opinion was that he was the bad guy; however he is the only real person in the
movie trying to help her out at all.

11) I think that this film relates best to Happiness and the good life. This is a film were every
character is trying to find some sense of happiness but never seem to be able to find it. Everyone
is scared to lose their life. Specifically from the reading it makes me think of the apology of
Socrates. Socrates saw that people were being consumed by material things such as money. The
people in the movie seemed to live in a material world where they question no one or anything. It
makes me think about Socrates when he talked about how the un-examined life if not worth
living. To Examine are lives we must ask questions. The people were scared of death and tried to
avoid it. They were also miserable. Socrates had nothing and didnt fear death and he was a very
happy person. Ofelia sought out answers to her questions and at the end of the film she found
happiness.

12) I think that you had us watch a foreign film to help us gain a different perspective on the way
other cultures view things, think feel and portray ideas. Also they have made some great films
you would miss out on only because they are in a different language.